Help combat hunger-related injustice.
The Food Security fund helps those struggling with hunger, especially if that struggle results from systemic inequality.
Expensify.org’s direct giving model exists to empower people to make a difference in their own communities. We can all contribute to fighting hunger-related injustice and ensuring that no one suffers from food insecurity.
These two campaigns are the winners of the Community Justice Grant Challenge:
Building A Mutual Aid Community By Feeding Milan, based in Milan, Italy and run by Mutuo Soccorso Milano, seeks to create and consolidate mutual aid communities in the most difficult neighborhoods to distribute food and care packages. They also aim to give life to a community kitchen that would prepare hot meals for the homeless.
For Oak Cliff Food Security Programs, based in Dallas, Texas and run by For Oak Cliff, provides culturally responsive initiatives in South Oak Cliff to liberate the community from systemic oppression, create a culture of education, and increase social mobility and social capital. This includes a food distribution program and community garden, since Oak Cliff is located in a food desert where 67% of the 40,000 Superblock residents live below the poverty line and 40% of residents do not have a GED.
The following campaigns are the semi-finalists of the Community Justice Grant Challenge:
Clinton Hill Fort Greene Mutual Aid Groceries & Essentials Fund, based in Brooklyn, New York and run by Clinton Hill Fort Greene Mutual Aid (CHFGMA) provides food-insecure neighbors in Clinton Hill and Fort Greene with essential household items and food, removing a source of chronic stress and promoting mental and physical wellbeing in the community.
Community Engagement Against Hunger Injustice, based in Lancaster, Pennsylvania and run by LifeSeeds International is fighting injustice in relation to hunger. In 2020, working in partnership with approximately 285 different community leaders across the northeast, they were able to facilitate the giving away of 33,459,000 pounds of fresh food to those in need.
Community fridge offering nourishing food and health resources to the local NYC community, based in New York, New York and run by Community Fridge 120 is a free food fridge in Harlem offering access to nourishing foods and supportive health programs for the local community. We’ve also created a distribution network that feeds fellow community fridges throughout NYC.
Giving Grove: Community Orchards Providing Free, Fresh, Local Fruit to Those in Need, based in Omaha, Nebraska and run by the Big Garden, aims to cultivate food security and build community gardens by continuing to plant small orchards that produce nearly 50,000 pounds of fruit yearly.
Create a world that doesn't expire through food recovery, based in Oakland, CA and run by Replate, which is a national technology-driven nonprofit. They aim to reduce food waste produced by restaurants, food distributors, offices and corporations by matching those businesses with organizations that need support, and delivering the surplus food.
Delivering 5,000 meals a week to offset lost government programs, based in Berkeley, CA and run by HelpBerkeley.org is a grassroots volunteer-run initiative delivering food to those who are food-insecure. They received a Bay Area Jefferson Award for Public Service, a City of Berkeley proclamation, and have been featured in local magazines and TV stations.
Diverting food to feed First Nations families, based in Vancouver, Canada with Refood Food Rescue works to address the injustices of food insecurity of indigenous groups in Canada by diverting food that grocery stores would otherwise throw away to their First Nations Food Bank. They prepare and deliver food hampers to families who need them.
Ending poverty and incarceration for women and girls, based in New York, New York and run by The Ladies of Hope Ministries, which is founded and led by women who are impacted by the justice system, works to end poverty and incarceration of women and girls by providing housing security and reentry services.
Fighting hunger in NC, based in Greensboro, North Carolina with Greensboro Community Fridge aims to reduce food insecurity and food waste. Installing community fridges will promote equal access to healthy food, by way of public refrigerators, that are used to share food and connect neighbors.
Full Belly Project - Feeding the hungry and in need making bellies full, based in Newark, New Jersey and run by Bessie Green Community are known among their neighbors as “The Red Door.” Bessie Green Community has been serving the underprivileged 1978. Providing hot meals, clothing, and bags of food, they seek to fulfill their mission: "Feeding, clothing, and supporting our neighbors with compassion and dignity".
Harlem Community Fridge, based in New York, New York and run by Harlem Fridges serves people in the underserved Harlem Community, which now with the Pandemic, is more affected than ever by food insecurity which has led to more health disparities within a growing food desert. The Free Food Community Fridge, which is accessible 24/7 to everyone in the community, provides fresh produce and prepared meals that otherwise would go to waste by organizers with a focus on food rescue.
Help Feed Hungry Families, based in New York, New York and run by Invisible Hands Deliver are a group of organizers and volunteers delivering groceries, prescriptions, and other necessities to those most vulnerable, including the elderly, immunocompromised, sick, people with disabilities, and people experiencing food insecurity.
Ishtar Collective's Free Food Garden Project, based in Montpelier, Vermont and run by The Ishtar Collective is a nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting the intersectional issues of sex work with LGBTQIA+, race, class, gender, and disability equity. The Ishtar Collective is run by current or former sex workers, and survivors of human trafficking.